IT URGES WEALTHY NATIONS TO PLEDGE ‘DOLLARS FOR DOSES’ TO VACCINATE 6.5M AFRICAN
HEALTH WORKERS.
#VaxLive: The Concert to Reunite the World, a televised event that will call for equitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution for all.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged his support for Global Citizen’s latest concert initiative, VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World. This global broadcast and streaming special on Saturday, 8 May, 2021 will feature top artists from around the world performing live during a large-scale vaccination drive hosted on the grounds of SoFi Stadium, to draw attention to the need to vaccinate, end COVID-19 and kick-start a global economic recovery.
International advocacy organisation Global Citizen, known for its advocacy work and impactful campaigns in support of pressing social issues, is spearheading this event calling on world leaders to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines around the world. The focus is particularly on aiding African countries, many of which are lagging behind their more affluent Western neighbours in their COVID-19 vaccine rollouts.
With support from the World Health Organization (WHO), European Commission President Ursula von
der Leyen, Prime Minister of Italy and G20 Chair Mario Draghi, and Prime Minister of Spain Pedro
Sanchez, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg, Prime
Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez, and the State of California, the special, hosted by multi-platinum
recording artist, actress and producer Selena Gomez, will include a night of musical performances by
Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Vedder, Foo Fighters, J Balvin and H.E.R.
As the exclusive global streaming partner, YouTube will stream an extended version of VAX LIVE: The
Concert to Reunite the World on the Global Citizen channel for a full run-time of 90 minutes, which will
include additional performances and appearances by NCT 127 and YouTube creators Daniel El Travieso,
Kati Morton, ShootforLove, Thembe Mahlaba and The Try Guys.
The VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World campaign includes policy partners: The World Health
Organization (WHO), The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI), Gavi – The Vaccine
Alliance, The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, The COVID-19 Therapeutics
Accelerator, The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and UNITAID, and philanthropic
partners: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and Allan & Gill Gray
Philanthropy. The special is part of Global Citizen’s Recovery Plan for the World, a year-long campaign to
end COVID-19 for all, end the hunger crisis, resume learning everywhere, protect the planet and
advance equity for all.
The sad reality is that most African countries will not have enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to vaccinate
at least 60% of their populations this year, which is what is needed to achieve herd immunity and defeat
the virus. As a result, up to 49-million more African people could be pushed into poverty in 2021. This is
why, as part of VAX LIVE, Global Citizen is campaigning to support the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT)
Accelerator initiative, including COVAX, a vaccine-sharing programme co-led by the WHO, to ensure that
lower-income countries can access enough COVID-19 vaccines to safeguard their citizens.
Global Citizen is calling on governments, companies and philanthropists to pledge the remaining $21.1-
billion the ACT-Accelerator needs to get two billion COVID-19 vaccine doses, as well as tests and
treatments, to countries that need them by the end of 2021. A central part of this call to democratise vaccine access is raising enough “dollars-for-doses” to vaccinate the more than 27-million heroic health workers – 6.5-million in Africa alone – that are serving on the global frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic everyday.
SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA said, “South Africa is fully behind this initiative to be
part of a collective effort to recover after the devastating pandemic. The ‘Recovery Plan for the World’ is
a good opportunity to get the international community working together to drive equitable access to
vaccines for everyone, everywhere. Again, I urge world leaders to urgently free up excess supply for
poorer countries. Today, the world is facing an unprecedented health, social and economic crisis. Now is
the time to act in the interests of the whole world, now is the time to become truly global citizens.”
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General AMINA MOHAMMED, said: “We will not see an end to the
devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown to our economies without access to
the people’s vaccine. To get this done, it is imperative that more resources are made available, that
surpluses from wealthier nations are shared immediately with frontline workers in lower income
countries and that the production of vaccines is accelerated. Considerable efforts have been made by
the African Union envoy and it will take even greater international coordination and closer collaboration
over the coming months to ensure that vaccines are made available to the world’s vulnerable people.”
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said: “The proposed Five-Point Recovery plan, particularly the first objective of ending the pandemic, is very well
aligned with the Africa Joint Continental Strategy for COVID-19 Outbreak adopted by the African
Ministers of Health at the onset of the pandemic in February 2020. The Africa Centres for Disease
Control and Prevention has launched several initiatives to operationalise this strategy which include the
‘Africa Against COVID-19: Saving Lives, Economies and Livelihoods’ campaign, and the Partnership to
Accelerate COVID-19 Testing in Africa (PACT).”
Her Excellency, GRAÇA MACHEL, said: “The COVID-19 vaccine is a human right for all. Vaccine equity is not just a public health concern, it is an issue of social justice and a matter of our collective survival. Nobody will be protected against COVID-19 until everybody is. There will be no socio-economic recovery for anyone, in any country, unless we prioritize an equal global public health response.”
One year ago, COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill. The pandemic is still raging across the globe
and dozens of countries are yet to receive a single dose of the vaccine. New variants of COVID-19 are
emerging, some of which are vaccine resistant, and it is urgent that people everywhere get access to the
care and vaccines they need.
“The World Health Organization is pleased to be partnering with Global Citizen in the fight against
COVID-19,” said DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WHO Director-General. “Throughout the
response to the pandemic, we have been grateful for the efforts and commitment shown by global
citizens, health advocates and changemakers around the world to advocate for vaccine equity to protect
the most vulnerable people, everywhere. WHO will continue to work closely with all nations and
partners to help manage potential risks and use science and data to drive a targeted global response.”
Image by Hakan German from Pixabay.
To achieve global vaccine access and confidence, VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World aims to:
● Increase donations of vaccine doses to low income nations, build vaccine confidence and
promote vaccine uptake, helping to ensure access for everyone, everywhere;
● Call on philanthropists and corporations to donate enough “dollars-for-doses” to help vaccinate
the more than 27 million heroic health workers, that are on the front lines, in the poorest
countries that need access to vaccines most;
● Call on governments, corporations and philanthropists to invest an additional $22.1 billion to get
two billion vaccine doses and other medical tools to the poorest countries;
● Disseminate financial commitments to regional responders supporting health, education,
hunger, equity and climate efforts;
● Encourage pharmaceutical companies to commit to selling COVID-19 vaccines at a production
price – earning profits at the expense of human lives will impede progress; and
● Build vaccine confidence by educating and empowering audiences to get answers to their top
questions about the COVID-19 vaccines.
Executive Director for UN Women, PHUMZILE MLAMBO-NGCUKA added that “over the past year, it has
become increasingly clear that the COVID-19 pandemic is not just a health issue but also a social issue.
This crisis has exacerbated existing inequalities across all aspects of life for women, girls and their
communities.”
“This pandemic provides us with an opportunity for radical, positive action to redress long-standing
inequalities in multiple areas of women’s lives. In our joint pursuit to end the pandemic, we must make
a conscious effort to centre the distribution of vaccines to women and tell more stories of building
resilience as part of our gender responsive interventions. We cannot fully recover without a gender-focused response to COVID-19 and I’m glad to see Equity as a key focus area in the ‘Recovery Plan for
the World’.”
With music stars joined on stage by global development advocates and changemakers, VAX LIVE: The
Concert to Reunite the World will also celebrate a hopeful future as families and communities are finally
able to reunite after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World will be
pre-taped at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Airing and live streaming on Saturday, 8 May, 2021 on ABC,
ABC News Live, CBS, YouTube, iHeartMedia broadcast radio stations and the iHeartRadio App, VAX LIVE
will start at 8:00 PM ET/7:00 PM CT.
The concert will also air on FOX at 11:00 PM ET/PT in the U.S. “As a global community, we are in a race against time and the key to coming back together is the vaccine. We need to build vaccine confidence in the U.S. and globally, and encourage people to take the vaccine as quickly as possible,” said HUGH EVANS, Global Citizen Co-Founder & CEO. “There is a light at the end of this tunnel, but getting vaccines to everyone, everywhere regardless of who they are or
where they are from, is key to ensuring the end of this pandemic around the world. We must all unite to
get back on track to eradicating extreme poverty.”
As the exclusive global streaming partner, YouTube will stream an extended version of VAX LIVE: The
Concert to Reunite the World on the Global Citizen channel for a full run-time of 90 minutes, which will
include additional performances and appearances by NCT 127 and YouTube creators Daniel El Travieso,
Kati Morton, ShootforLove, Thembe Mahlaba and The Try Guys.
Global Citizen today is also launching VAX BECAUSE, to drive candid conversations about the COVID-19
pandemic, provide people with ranging perspectives about vaccine confidence, and arm people with
facts about personal health and immunization options. With the aim of ensuring that individuals,
families and communities can make the right decisions for themselves, the campaign will live on a multimedia HUB, where visitors can both ask questions they have about the vaccine, and find fact-based information about the coronavirus epidemic. Global Citizens are encouraged to ask questions and find answers at http://VaxBecause.org.
In partnership with Declan Kelly and Teneo, the global CEO advisory firm, VAX LIVE and Global Citizen’s
Recovery Plan for the World are supported by a coalition of Global Partners including: Cisco, Citi, The
Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Google, Live Nation, P&G and Verizon, and Pan-African Partner
Access Bank. As leaders of many of the world’s top companies, co-chairs Chuck Robbins, Chairman and
CEO of Cisco; Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi; James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company; Ed
Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines; Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation; Marc Pritchard, CBO of P&G; and
Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon will work together to engage the private sector to help achieve the
campaign’s priority policy goals. Lorraine Twohill, CMO of Google and Mindy Grossman, CEO of WW
International are also supporting leaders of Global Citizen’s Recovery Plan for the World.
VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World is executive produced by Global Citizen, the Ad Council &
COVID Collaborative, YouTube Originals, iHeartMedia, Teneo and Live Nation. The VAX LIVE broadcast
will be executive produced by Casey Patterson and Casey Patterson Entertainment, and Ken Ehrlich.
Producers of VAX LIVE, include: Michele Anthony, for Universal Music Group, Michael Rapino, CEO of
Live Nation, John Sykes, President, Entertainment Enterprises at iHeartMedia, Tom Poleman, Chief
Programming Officer & President at iHeartMedia, Declan Kelly, CEO of Teneo, Rob Light, for CAA,
Amanda Silverman of The Lede Company, Shawn Sachs & Keleigh Thomas Morgan of Sunshine Sachs,
and Diversified Production Services (DPS).
For more information about VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World, visit globalcitizen.org/vaxlive
and follow @glblctzn on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.